Adjustable speed motor drives are power conversion systems that operate to provide power to electric motors in a controlled fashion to control one or more motor performance parameters, such as speed, torque, etc. Medium voltage current-sourced type motor drives typically receive multiphase AC input power in the range of about 2,400 to 6,900 volts, which is converted to DC power referred to as a DC link and provided to an inverter stage. The inverter switches the DC link currents to provide AC output current to a motor load with the output current being controlled by the inverter in closed loop fashion to drive the motor at a desired speed and/or torque. The rectifier is generally an active switching type rectifier that selectively activates switches to provide current from the AC input to the DC link bus to achieve AC to DC power conversion, where the rectifier gain is controlled to provide a DC link current level at the peak current level required by the motor at any given time. The inverter, in turn, implements a switching scheme to selectively connect the motor leads to the DC link bus terminals to provide motor phase currents with controlled amplitudes, phase, and frequency to implement a particular motor control strategy based on motor performance feedback values and desired performance setpoints or profiles. The use of an active front end rectifier in the drive, however, causes a non-unity leading power factor, particularly during startup of the motor because of the filter capacitors associated with the AC input. This is particularly undesirable in situations where the AC input is provided by a generator, where the leading power factor at start up can cause generator instability. Thus, there remains a need for motor drive systems and control techniques by which improved power factor control can be achieved.